The Concrete Jungle
An inch wide and a mile deep. That is how Edward Kayizzi “Eddie” described his internship at JP Morgan as he spent slightly over a month in the Market Analyst Fellowship program. This summer he had the chance to wake up and get to work in the concrete jungle that is New York. Something many students aspire to do but only few get to. During the week Eddie would hop on the subway as he mentally prepped to start work at JP Morgan’s New York Office.
Every day was slightly different but there were a few core tasks Eddie could expect to see on his itinerary. Those tasks were learning how to operate in Bloomberg Terminal, hearing from various speakers, learning about macro economic events impacting the market, and shadowing full time workers. Eddie states that shadowing full time workers in the Corporate investment banking division for about an hour daily was by far the most impactful part of his internship experience. Learning from workers who operated on all floors e.g. commodity trading, equity trading, and derivative trading gave Eddie clear insight on not only what it looked like to work at JP Morgan but what it looked like to be in investment banking.
After a hectic but insightful day Eddie would take the Subway back home and begin researching various topics pertaining to the Stock Market discussed either in breakout sessions or during his time shadowing. One common phrase he heard often at JP Morgan was the importance of developing a great EQ and IQ and not being too reliant on one or the other. He got to see this mantra come to life as he networked with students in his cohort daily and took a deep dive into markets. Eddie believes the culture at JP Morgan, similar to most large firms, is very cut throat however he was very grateful for how kind everyone was. Late in the summer, well after his internship ended he got a call from a person he had met at the company who personally congratulated him for his return offer for the following summer. This he deemed was just one fraction of the many times where people selflessly helped him and other students in the program.
To anyone interested in this great program Eddie’s best advice was to be a genuine friend. During his sophomore year he had the chance to meet many people who worked in Investment Banking and he has been able to build great relationships since then. Furthermore he stressed the importance of challenging yourself and learning as much as possible because that passion and knowledge will show in the interviews. Who doesn’t love the concrete jungle?
